42nd Street tour announces casting including Samantha Womack and Faye Tozer 

A new UK production of the classic musical 42nd Street will feature a tour cast including Samantha Womack, Michael Praed, Faye Tozer, Les Dennis and Nicole-Lily Baisden.

The production, which is also being staged by Curve and Sadler’s Wells with a different casting configuration, opens at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury on 13 July 2023. Following this, it will visit a number of other UK cities including Leeds, Bristol, Plymouth, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton, Newcastle, Woking and Belfast, with further dates to be announced.

Samantha Womack, who recently starred as the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, will play the role of Dorothy Brock, while Michael Praed will play Julian Marsh. Faye Tozer, who rose to fame as a member of pop group Steps, will play Maggie Jones, with Les Dennis playing Bert Barry and Nicole-Lily Baisden playing Peggy Sawyer. The show will be directed by Jonathan Church, with choreography and design by award winners Bill Deamer and Rob Jones.

The cast will be completed by Sam Lips as Billy Lawlor, with Erica-Jayne Alden, George Beet, Charlie Bishop, Kevin Brewis, Olly Christopher, Briana Craig, Jordan Crouch, Rhianna Dorris, Ashleigh Graham, Alyn Hawke, Aimee Hodnett, Connor Hughes, Deja Linton, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, Greta McKinnon, Ben Middleton, Benjamin Mundy, Anthony Ofoegbu and Jessica Wright.

The musical tells the story of Peggy Sawyer, a young girl from a small town who arrives in New York City with dreams of becoming a star. Featuring classic songs such as “We’re In The Money”, “Lullaby of Broadway”, “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” and “I Only Have Eyes For You”, 42nd Street was last seen in the West End at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. 

Creatively, the show also has lighting design by Ben Cracknell, sound design by Ian Dickinsonand Gareth Tucker, video design by Jon Driscoll, musical supervision by Jennifer Whyte and orchestrations by Larry Blank.